California’s urban water customers collectively reduced their water use by 26 percent in September, continuing to surpass the statewide mandate, but at slightly lower levels than were seen during summer, the State Water Resources Control Board reported Friday.
Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this year ordered that urban water customers statewide reduce water usage by an average of 25 percent compared to 2013. The state water board then set a range of conservation goals for water agencies for June through February, targeting higher per capita users with the biggest cuts.
While most communities continue to hit mandated conservation targets, a few have consistently missed. State officials announced their first fines on Friday against cities that haven’t met their mandates. All four were in Southern California: Beverly Hills, Indio, Redlands and Coachella Valley Water District. Each was fined $61,000.
“Up and down the state, residents and water suppliers are making the necessary sacrifices needed to help California meet its water conservation goals,” said Cris Carrigan, the agency’s director of enforcement. “For these four suppliers, it’s been too little too late to achieve their conservation standard.”
State residents cut water use by 26.1 percent in September compared to the same month in 2013, down from nearly 27 percent in August. Since June, Californians have cumulatively reduced water use by 28.1 percent.
Most Sacramento-area water agencies were told to cut water use by 28 percent to 36 percent, and they mostly hit those targets – with room to spare – during the summer. But in September, several local agencies slipped.
The city of Sacramento cut water use by 26.5 percent, missing its target of 28 percent. The city of Davis cut use by 18.2 percent, well below its target of 28 percent. The city of Lincoln cut use by 26.4 percent, off its target of 32 percent.
According to the Sacramento Regional Water Authority, the region’s water agencies saved 27 percent on average in September. That was 3 points below the region-wide mandate of 30 percent. Even with this slippage, the cumulative savings since June for the region was 34 percent through the end of September.
Most water used by local residents is applied to their yards. Sacramento residents have dramatically reduced outdoor watering this year, as evidenced by the prevalence of brown grass across the region. But outdoor irrigation starts to slow around September, making it harder to post gains over prior years just by turning off sprinklers.
Additionally, Californians are being asked to conserve amid reports of a strong El Niño, which forecasters say likely will produce more rain than normal for much of the state this year.
“We need to keep it up as best we can, even as we hope for as much rain and snow as we can safely handle,” said Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, referring to water conservation targets.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article41953827.html
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